This series will feature software that we feel can be very useful to Java developers. We will give preference to free and open source software. If you have any suggestions write to (editor at indicthreads dot com).

We begin with a software that is rapidly growing in popularity. It is already well established in the open source world and is now venturing into commercial software development.

Subversion with TortoiseSVN

Our developer software pick for the week is Subversion with TortoiseSVN. Subversion is a free/open-source version control system that is a replacement for CVS. If you are fed up with VSS or want more than what CVS offers, maybe it’s time you looked at Subversion.

Subversion uses the CVS like copy-modify-merge solution by default. However, as of Version 1.2, Subversion also supports file locking, the kind of version management that VSS users are used to.

If you are using Subversion on Windows, you must have a look at TortoiseSVN. TortoiseSVN is a free open-source client for the Subversion version control system. It is implemented as a windows shell extension and can greatly simplify Subversion use. You can download TortoiseSVN from http://sourceforge.net/projects/tortoisesvn/

If you plan to use Subversion, do have a look at this free book about Subversion. The CHM help file that comes with TortoiseSVN is also very good and can help you better understand Subversion and TortoiseSVN.

Most popular Java IDEs like NetBeans and Eclipse provide plugins for Subversion however TortoiseSVN does a better job than most of the IDE plugins.

Related:
>> Subversion support in NetBeans 5
>> IntelliJ IDEA 5.0 with Subversion integration